Heart procedure done on pregnant woman

Madurai, Sept 9: A non-surgical procedure on a woman in her final stage of pregnancy has been done by the cardiolagy department at the Government Rajaji Hospital here, hospial sources said here on Wednesday.

The heart condition of the 24-year-old woman was so bad that she needed immediate operation. Open heart surgery could not be performed on her in view of the risk involved as she was pregnant, Rewvathy Kailairajan, Dean of the of the hospial said.

Balloon volvotomy technology, a procedure by which a specially made balloon was introduced into the blood vessel in with help of a catheter for dilating the obstruction.

Though the procedure was very common, it was rare in the case of woman who is in the advanced stage of pregnancy.

The surgery was performed on August 8 and after 13 days the woman delivered a healthy baby. This was for the first time such procedure was performed on a pregnant woman in the hospital, the release said.

PTI